Tract with Bass Pro property is auctioned for $4.2 million

Updated 7:56 pm, Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Photo: Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News

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Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World sits on property now owned by Commercial Builders Group LLC. The landlord argues that the sale invalidated the store’s lease, but the firm is continuing to abide by its provisions.

At an auction on the steps of the Bexar County Courthouse, Commercial Builders Group LLC was the winning bidder for the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World site at The Rim shopping center. The winning bid was $4.2 million.

At an auction on the steps of the Bexar County Courthouse, Commercial Builders Group LLC was the winning bidder for the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World site at The Rim shopping center. The winning bid was $4.2

A San Antonio company was the winning bidder Tuesday at a courthouse auction for The Rim shopping center property where Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World operates.

Commercial Builders Group LLC bid $4.2 million for the 180,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops building and the 24-acre tract on which it sits at 17907 Interstate 10 West on the Northwest Side. That was significantly less than the appraised value of $19 million.

“We bought a property at a good price,” Flint Bourgeois, Commercial Builders Group's representative, said right after the auction. “We think it's going to be a good business deal.”

Bourgeois declined to comment on Commercial Builders Group's plans for the property.

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Bourgeois is listed on the Texas Bar's website as corporate counsel for San Antonio-based United Fashions of Texas Ltd., which owns the Melrose retail chain.

Melrose, according to its website, operates more than 100 locations throughout Texas and three other states. The chain began as a women's clothing concept but today offers fashions for men and children. It also sells accessories, such as handbags and costume jewelry.

Whether United Fashions has designs on the Bass Pro Shops store couldn't be determined.

The new owner of a property acquired at a tax deed sale might be able to negotiate a new lease with the tenant under Texas' tax code, according to Carri Baker Wells, an officer with the law firm that represents Bexar County's tax assessor-collector's office.

But she added that she hasn't seen the lease document, so she couldn't say with certainty whether Commercial Builders Group could negotiate a new lease with Bass Pro Shops.

Asked if Commercial Builders Group could cancel the Bass Pro Shops lease, Bourgeois responded, “I'm not even going to comment on that.” But he later added, “I hope they keep the business going.”

Bass Pro Shops spokesman Larry Whiteley said the store has not been contacted by Commercial Builders Group. He had no additional comment.

Stanley Thomas, the Georgia-based developer of The Rim, apparently was willing to let the Bass Pro Shops site go to a tax deed sale because the lease terms weren't particularly favorable for him, according to Sylvia Romo, Bexar County's tax assessor-collector. The store was one of the anchor tenants of The Rim when it opened in 2006.

After paying lender Wells Fargo, the developer had nothing left with which to pay taxes, Romo has said. Some expected that Wells Fargo might step in and pay the taxes before the auction, but that never happened.

The county obtained a judgment on delinquent taxes owed by Fourth Quarter Properties 122 LLCThe company, formed by Thomas, owns the property. Bass Pro Shops was not party to the litigation.

The county's judgment was for $2.1 million, the minimum amount it would have accepted at auction. Bourgeois bid that amount, only to be topped by a bid of $2.2 million. Bourgeois then bid $4.2 million, drawing the auction to a quick close.

Asked to explain his reasons for jumping the bid, he answered, “It's advantageous for tax purposes. The total taxes were $4.2 million.”

Taxes on the property from 2008 through 2012 total about $4.28 million, Romo said. That includes delinquent taxes from 2008 and 2009, for which it obtained the judgment.

Romo's representatives were elated with the outcome of the auction.

“We got a lot of taxes paid for Northside (Independent) School District, for Bexar County and the city of San Antonio,” Baker Wells said. “Unfortunately, the property had to sell. That's always a last resort. But the bottom line is we got the taxes paid.”